Blake Wynn is a sneaker reseller that has since founded a sports marketing agency called,
Enclave & Key. Blake started off buying and selling sneakers and making content through YouTube and Instagram. He was very successful doing that but he always talked about his love for sports, football especially and he thought he could make something out of that passion. He made great connections by selling sneakers to big name athletes and his family ties to the Las Vegas strip, as his uncle was the CEO of Mirage Resorts and Wynn Resorts. He dropped out of college at the age of 19 to pursue his dream of being a sports agent. Blake moved to Los Angeles to be able to become a partner with the LA Chargers, helping with their players marketing. Being with the Chargers was the first step towards opening his own marketing agency. Right at the start of Enclave and Key, he had over 30 athletes ready to partner. He became a global brand ambassador for the LA Chargers as a result of this early success. Enclave and Key has grown to represent over 150 of the biggest names in sports. Since Blake was very young, he had an entrepreneurial mind and he was always looking for the next venture.
Archive for Sneakers
Travis Scott is a secular rapper who grew up in Houston, Texas. Scott comes from a family of musicians and started playing the drums at three years old and continued to learn more and more about music as he grew up. Scott attended the University off Texas in San Antonio until he dropped out to focus and pursue his dream career. Travis Scott’s music started getting a lot of intention and suddenly, he was one of the most popular rappers. Scott’s story however, doesn’t end there and it hasn’t been a simple world of success with music. He showed an entrepreneurial spirit and mind with how he branded himself.
Travis Scott is very famous for his music, but he has used that popularity to expand into other areas of earning revenue and popularity. Scott has done several collaborations with Nike, designing shoes and clothes that have become sought after and very expensive on the resell market. His shoe designs have been super unique, even for Nike. Scott took a classic Jordan Retro 1 high and made the swoosh bigger, but then flipped it backwards and people fell in love with it.
Fortnite took the gaming world by storm and Travis Scott realized this so he seized an opportunity and performed a virtual concert in the game for more than 12 million viewers. This concert in the game was completely free, but Scott made a fortune off of his merchandise line where he collaborated with Fortnite.
Finally Scott also did a collaboration with McDonald’s and created a $6 meal. Scott was able to reach a much younger market with this meal and attract new listeners to his music. McDonald’s chief marketing officer Morgan Flatley said, “His ability to kind of see where culture is going and have a hand in where culture is going is really unique.” Travis Scott has time and again showed an entrepreneurial trait of always being able to adapt and find new ways to make money and attract new consumers to his brand.
Travis’ Background
When most people hear the name Travis Scott, they think of the 29 year old rapper who is one of the most popular artists today. Although Travis is most well known for his music, he is also one of the most influential designers and marketing influencers in todays culture.
Designing a shoe Empire.
Travis Scott has been extremely successful in the music industry for the last few years. He has produced numerous hit songs and albums, and created a large following for himself. This success quickly drove him to innovate in ways that didn’t involve only music. Travis has a passion for collecting shoes, especially high demand shoes that not everyone can get their hands on. This passion for shoes influenced Travis to go out on his own and begin designing his own line of shoes. In 2017, Travis signed a deal with Nike to begin designing his own styles on many of Nikes popular shoes. For the past three years, Travis has designed numerous shoes that instantly sell out as soon as they hit the market. Travis stands out from other competitors, because his shoes are unique to himself and his design. He produces limited amounts of shoes, which drives his fan base to try as hard as they can to purchase these shoes before they sell out. These shoes are in such high demand, that fans have paid as much as $3,000 on the secondary market to get their hands on a pair. His design success has lead him to begin producing clothing items as well, which continue to be successful each time they are released.
Marketing Influence
This fall, Travis signed a deal with Mcdonalds to market a “Travis Scott meal” for a limited amount of time. This meal was available throughout the month of September, and it was certainly a success. Fans throughout the world purchased this meal, and loved the idea of being able to eat Travis’ favorite burger from Mcdonalds. Social media was a huge influence on the success of the Travis Scott meal, as thousands of fans posted pictures and videos with the limited time offer.
Innovating through a pandemic
This past summer, Travis was unable to perform concerts due to the Covid 19 restrictions. His entrepreneurial mindset allowed him to innovate in a way that would still allow him to connect his music to his fans. Travis partnered with the popular video game, Fortnite, and performed virtual concerts on the platform. In these “concerts”, Travis was depicted as a character in the game as his songs were played for fans. This was a huge hit across the globe, as thousands of fans tuned in to catch a glimpse of their favorite artists during the pandemic. This innovation allowed Travis to stand out from other artists who also couldn’t perform during the pandemic. Although he could’t perform in person, he found a way to still connect with his fanbase and build his following.
My takeaway
Travis Scott has certainly inspired thousands of fans across the world. I personally find it very inspiring that someone at such a young age has already found ways to innovate and become a successful entrepreneur. Not only has Travis found success in the music industry, but he also ventured into other markets and quickly took over. His drive for innovation in challenging times is very inspirational.
In this current age of technology and social-consciousness we see a new demand among children and adults of generation z wanting to make a positive social impact in some way with every purchase they make. Whether it is being environmentally sustainable, supporting a cause, or donating to a mission, every purchase needs to mean something. As a young person, Sofia Overton saw a vacancy in the market, along with a pain people were feeling within her own community. Sofia was only eleven years old when she started her company called Wise Pocket Products.
Her goal was to make life a bit easier for active children, just like herself. One day she observed her cousin put her phone into her boot because the leggings she was wearing were not conducive to storing cell phones. Not having a pocket to put your phone in is always a struggle so she framed this as a problem and grew determined to solve it. Gears began to turn and she soon went to work on a pocket that would be located towards the top part of the sock that was the right size and secure enough to effectively hold any cell phone comfortably. It was then that the Wise Pocket design was conceived and she went to work manufacturing and marketing her product. Though it was the cell phone that Sofia designed the pocket for, she quickly found that since her target market was primarily active kids, that both inhalers and epi-pens could also be safely and securely carried in the Wise Pocket.
She did not stop innovating at the sock-pocket technology, but has also innovated her unique Wise Pocket design into leggings to solve the original problem that her cousin faced.
Though safety, security, and style are the themes of Wise Pocket Products, Sofia has made redemption a major factor of her company. She found that in her school district alone, there are six-hundred and twenty seven homeless children. This saddened her so much that she, once again, innovated a solution to fix this deprivation in her community. For every pair of socks sold, the buyer makes a small positive impact in the life of a child in need. Sofia makes sure that with each purchase of a pair of Wise Pocket Socks that the Wise Movement is serving those suffering homelessness and need across the globe. She truly believes that warm feet equal warm hearts, and every child shall experience that. As a young entrepreneur, Sofia saw a problem, framed it out, implemented redemptive qualities, innovated a solution, marketed the solution, generated revenue, and to this day continues to bring warm feet and warm hearts to children in need. She continues to fight for those suffering homelessness while supporting herself with her own God-given entrepreneurial spirit.
Visit https://wisepocketproducts.com/ for more information!
Jose Ortiz was an average worker going from job to job trying to find a fit, but he realized he didn’t want to work for someone. Ortiz preceded to look on eBay for items he could potentially sell. From his research Ortiz kept seeing a pair of shoes (Just Don x Air Jordan 2) that retailed for $350 that was selling for $1,000 every hour. Ortiz recognized that there was a market for sneaker reselling and he decided to buy a different pair of shoes for $190, and immediately sold them for $300. Ortiz continued in this market and had great success through getting every sought after drop possible and selling them for a finders fee on the resell market. Ortiz made six figures in one year of reselling and decided to help others succeed like he did.
Ortiz starting a business on top of his resell that helped others succeed. He started a website called Six Figure Sneakerhead where people could look for advice on how to make a living on sneaker reselling. Ortiz also wrote a couple books such as, “10k Per Month Sneaker Workbook,” the “2019 Supreme Resale Bible,” and “Hypemaster Playbook.” These books branched out from just sneaker resale into streetwear as well. Ortiz has helped countless people to make a living off of sneaker resell and he has made a hefty profit from his success in the resell market, and in the educational market.
Jose Ortiz never settled, instead he decided to make a living in an unconventional way. On top of that, Ortiz didn’t just stop after making money in one area, he pursued other areas where he could expand his business and help others. Ortiz found a better way to make a living and provided the blueprints for others to do the same.
As Americans, most of us can say we own one, if not multiple pairs of shoes. For Tim Brown, founder of Allbirds shoe company and former professional soccer player, an over-abundance of shoes prompted his desire for a change in the shoe industry. As Brown progressed in his soccer career, he realized that the numerous shoes he received from his sponsor were “completely unnecessary.” Due to Brown’s experience with an over-abundance of shoes as a soccer player, he let this drive his vision for the Allbirds shoe company. Brown envisioned a shoe that would innovate in reverse. Instead of choosing to add to already technical and detailed shoe designs, he chose to “strip back the shoe and create something simple and natural.” The foundation for Brown’s Allbirds company was one that innovated in reverse. Not only did Brown aim to create a minimalist shoe, but he furthered his efforts by committing to sustainability. Brown continued this vision of minimalism as he chose to use renewable, sustainable resources to build his shoes. For example, Brown and Zwillinger (engineer and renewables expert), crafted a shoe which incorporates eucalyptus fibers containing cooling properties. This creates a running shoe which naturally cools your sweaty feet. Below is a picture of these shoes made from eucalyptus trees.
“Allbirds: Tree Runners”
EVERY part of these shoes are comprised from renewable resources. The laces are crafted from consumer plastics, the insole of the shoe is made from castor bean oil which emits less carbon than petroleum based foam, the mid-sole is made of sugarcane from Brazil, and the upper is made from the eucalyptus tree fiber.
The royal crown of Allbirds consists of their use of marino wool shoe material. In continuing with their mantra of sustainability, Allbirds uses marino sheep wool as the majority of their shoe material. In New Zealand, where the company is based and Brown’s home, sheep outnumber humans 6:1. Using sheep wool reduces the use of energy by 60% compared to that of most shoes on the market.
One of the entrepreneurial traits that Brown exudes is passion. It was quite evident through my research of this company that Brown has a profound passion for protecting our earth yet providing style in a simple way. I love how he thought creatively about the simplifying of shoes rather than trying to add to an already very complex shoe industry. By stripping down the shoe to its basic function and fashion, Brown was able to create a product which people thoroughly enjoy due to its performance and contribution to our plant.
“Mother Nature is our muse. Building on her handiwork, we’re finding new uses for materials that exist right in front of us. Like wool from merino sheep, who have the best hair in nature.” – Tim Brown
Brandon Webb is a 19-year-old entrepreneur that started the company Hypluxe. Hypluxe is a sneaker reselling company that aims to resell limited edition shoes to the public. Brandon Webb has been reselling sneaker since he was young and has been taking advantage of a market worth over $1 Billion that also offers profit margins of up to 1000%. Webb’s business targets the release of sneakers that are collaborations between celebrities and big companies like Nike, Adidas, and designer brands. Some popular examples of sneaker collaborations are Addidas and Kanye West’s Yeezy and Nike and Travis Scott’s Air Force One. One instance that Webb has given for his profit margins was his purchase of 100 pairs of Nike x Off White Jordan sneakers. At the time of release, the Nike x Off White sneakers cost $190 and were then sold for $1000 over the original price; this is due to the quantity of Nike x Off White shoes that were released. Due to the minimal supply, the resale price was drastically inflated. But how is Webb able to obtain these shoes if they are so limited? Well, Webb uses a highly developed bot technology that can purchase large quantities of shoes before the stock has run out. While this isn’t the most ethical form of obtaining sneakers, it is very effective for making a profit as even fairly common collaborative sneakers can be sold for a hefty profit.
Brandon Webb has taken his extensive knowledge of sneaker reselling and is now offering a guide on how to make profits that are in the six-figure range. Brandon Webb has advised hundreds of college students and shoe enthusiasts into making thousands a month just by selling shoes as a side job. One thing that is super beneficial about the sneaker reselling market is that it is risk-free, this is because if you are unable to sell a shoe for a profit, you can always return it for free. Brandon Webb is just one example of the vast opportunities that are available in the shoe resale market. Webb’s story is an inspiration because he shows that you can never be too young to make your first six figures.
Background of Sneaker Reselling
Many young teenagers dream of starting their own youtube channel, and one day making a career out of it. That’s where it all started for 19 year old, Keith Adam, about three years ago. Keith has a passion for buying and selling sneakers. Not your every day Walmart sneaker, but instead very limited high demand sneakers like Kanye West’s “Yeezy”, and Jordan basketball shoes. These shoes sell out instantly online and in store, and resell on the aftermarkets like Ebay, StockX, and other sites for sometimes up to 10 times the retail value of the shoe. This business is very similar to those who flip real estate. They typically buy the property for a low price, and end up selling it for a much higher price and earning profit. This high profit margin makes reselling sneakers very appealing to young entrepreneurs.
Starting on Youtube
In 2016, Keith began his youtube journey at 16 years old. He started producing videos with tips on how to get these limited shoes online and in store before they sell out. His first videos did not immediately gain much popularity in views, and he rarely made any money on youtube. After about a year making sneaker videos on youtube, Keith began to gain a following and produce interest in his channel. His following was mostly marketed to other teenagers like him, who have a passion for sneakers, and wanted to find a way to make extra money from home.
Finding Ways to Innovate
About two years ago, Keith wanted to find a way to set himself apart from other sneakers Youtubers. He started off using social media to promote himself and gain a bigger following from teenagers. Keith did a lot of research to figure out a way that he could earn money outside of youtube. This is where he discovered an app called “Discord.” Discord is an app that is typically targeted toward video gamers. It is a platform where groups can form and share ideas, create channels, and communicate through messages, video chat, and voice chat. This was appealing to Keith, because it allowed him to charge his fans a monthly fee, similar to subscriptions like Netflix, in order to access his reselling information. His focus was to continue using youtube and social media for small bits of information on reselling, but to focus on a paid subscription to Discord in order to gain full access to his content and reselling advice. He began offering his service through Discord for a small fee of $15 per month. He used his social media and youtube channel to promote this new service, and it immediately sold out. Keith was thrilled by the interest in his new Discord group, and from there, his career took off.
Keiths Success Today
Today, Keith continues to produce youtube videos and is active on social media, but his main focus is on Discord. The interest in Keiths group has grown exponentially, which allows him to increase the price for his service. Today, you can access Keiths Discord group for a steep monthly fee of $65. Keith realized that in order to make his group stand out from other competing resellers, he has to produce the best information. With this expensive monthly fee, Keith employs about a dozen “moderators” in his Discord group, who work around the clock finding out the best information regarding shoes. These employees allow Keith the freedom to focus on other ways to improve, rather than having to solely work around the clock in order to help the thousands of his Discord subscribers through sneaker releases. Keith continues to inspire many young teenagers to find a passion for sneakers and the hustle of reselling valuable sneakers.
